Monday, February 1, 2010

Super Bowl XLIV ....lagniappe

I’m, as are you, looking forward to a great matchup this weekend for the Super Bowl. I really was hoping for this matchup of two great teams going at it for a competitive game. I’m not sure how anyone can come away from this matchup and believe there is a clearly decided superior going into the game. Both teams have equal performances and big-play capabilities. I think one should temper the Conference Championship games with some perspective, however;

The Minnesota Vikings battled the Saints the entire season for supremacy of the NFC every week.

The New York Jets were thought to be eliminated from playoff contention in November.

That being said, I would enjoy a Saints victory on a personal level and also for what it would do for New Orleans and the entire state of Louisiana. The weeks following the NFC Championship game have been euphorically uplifting to all the citizens of the Boot. As a football enthusiast, I would settle for just watching two teams compete at a high level, with an emphasis on execution.

I just want to illustrate a few points leading up to the game. First and foremost, it is imperative that the Saints get off to a fast start. Sean Payton has been methodical for the past few seasons by opening games with an up-tempo, scripted series. This is how the Saints establish the rhythm they carry throughout the game. Often times, they may not even huddle in the opening drives – they will do little shifting or motions to start out. I really hope they get back to these ‘basics’ for the Super Bowl, as it was absent during the Dallas Cowboys regular season game as well as the NFC Championship game. Not necessarily the tempo, but the play selection of “what the Saints do”. In the games that the Saints dominate on offense and get into an unstoppable groove, occur after they stress defenses out horizontally and vertically. They work the 3-step game better than any other team in the league – I hope they return to this attitude in this game. This is the crux of setting up runs by Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush, and now Lionel Hamilton (Mike Bell, what happened?), screens, reverses, and boot action.

Also, I would really hope they stress the Colts defense out quickly with their empty package. It makes protection that much simpler as well as creating the horizontal divide of underneath defenders that more pronounced (as seen in these clips). All concepts are the quick 3-step, alleviating issues with Indianapolis’ pass rush (with or without Freeney).

While the Colts have struggled this season in establishing their run game, I must say that their most effective weapon comes from their play-action passing, as that involves the mastery of quarterback, Peyton Manning. It almost sounds like an oxymoron (that play-action remains effective when their actual run game struggles), but as you will see, Manning’s execution of ball fakes (and Howard Mudd’s offensive line’s footwork) is what makes this work. In these clips with Edgerrin James (pre-Dallas Clark days) and Joseph Addai (Clark era), the effectiveness of Manning to blow the top off of coverages, may be an Achilles Heel for New Orleans defense, whose linebackers have difficulty in controlling the seams.

Unfortunately, I think the matchup that certainly favors the Colts is the Lija/Saturday/DeVan vs Ellis(Hargrove)/Ayodole combination. This, of course, will be the lynch-pin for establishing the inside zone running, and Ayodele is not partiularly stout at handling doubles. Also, the WLB, Scott Shanle, (who remains in with Vilma in nickel situations) has been victimized throughout the past seasons with his athletic shortcomings. I anticipate the Saints playing a lot of quarters in an Under front, with SLB Fujita rolled up in a 9 tech on Cloherty (as Dallas Clark will take his usual spot as a slot/flex) to help control perimeter stretch game.

3 comments:

Anonymous
said...

First off as a coach I love your blog!! Just an amazing amount of information that has helped immensely. My question is how do you get all of this college and NFL film and how can I can get it? Thank you and keep up with the good work!

"Superior" wide receiver talent?Colston is right there with Wayne, but who are you referring to? Shockey? Thomas gets more work than he does. Surely NOT Henderson. Meachum still has a ways to go to reach his 1st round pick. No, I don't believe those inflate numbers at all. As pointed out, the Saints are actually BETTER when they work the quick/short game (+ completions). Like I said, I don't think you could find a more evenly matched SB.

Efficiency and execution is what vaults both teams above the rest of the league in passing, not dominating physical "talent".